1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to calibrating optical devices, and more particularly to collimators used for calibrating optical devices.
2. Description of Related Art
When calibrating an optical device to view a target, either the target is placed a sufficient distance away or a collimator is used to optically simulate a target at the distance. Collimators are a critical tool within optical laboratories for measuring focus, image field flatness, boresighting, imaging resolution, and clocking. However, traditional collimators have several potential drawbacks against use in the field including expense, fragility, small field of view, size, and weight.
Traditionally, for a wide field of view camera or a modular/reconfigurable camera, a single full aperture collimator is used for alignment and measurement. For large fields of view the collimator must be tilted to give the effect of a field point spaced infinitely far away. Further, the angle between the camera and collimator must be physically adjusted between each measurement to accomplish off-axis optical testing at the field points of interest.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for improved collimators. The present disclosure provides a solution for this need.